By Rachel Vail
Most of the time Katie is Katie, but when her temper takes right over she turns into Bombaloo, all fists and monster feet, until her mom helps her find her way back.
Katie Honors knows who she is. She uses her words, she plays fair, she's five and mostly good. But every so often, when she gets really, really mad, the words run out and something wilder takes the wheel. She kicks. She roars. She makes fierce faces and uses her fists instead of her words. When she's like that she isn't Katie anymore, she's Bombaloo, and Bombaloo is scary, even to Katie. Her mom doesn't yell back. She sends Katie for a little time to cool, stays close, and waits. And slowly the storm burns down, Katie feels sorry, and she comes back to being herself again.
This is the book that says the loud part out loud: sometimes the anger is so big it feels like it isn't even you. Naming that wild version 'Bombaloo' gives a child a handle on the scariest thing about their own temper, that they went somewhere they didn't mean to go. And the mom is the model here as much as Katie is. She doesn't match the storm or shame it. She waits it out and welcomes Katie back, which is exactly what a raging child needs to see is possible.